1. food and drink
2. healthy eating

Special Report
Supplement to MAYO CLINIC HEALTH LETTER
Achieving a healthy weight
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Strategies for long-term success
Lately, playing with your grandkids has left you worn out — you just can’t keep up with them anymore. You also
find it hard to participate in activities you used to enjoy. You suspect your weight may have something to do with
it. You also wonder if the added pounds may be affecting your health.
You’re right to be concerned. The health implications of carrying excess body fat are well-known. These risks are
even greater if you’re physically inactive and unfit. Plus, your chances of developing weight-related health problems
increase as you get older. Overall, being overweight has many implications for your health and quality of life.
For these reasons, losing weight is a healthy goal for many. The
good news is that weight loss that results from even a small reduction in body fat — about 5 percent to 10 percent — may improve
your health and reduce your risk of weight-related diseases.
Losing weight can also increase your confidence and enable
you to be energetic, strong, active and independent.
These health benefits can’t be achieved by quick fix,
“miracle” diets that focus only on losing pounds. Most people who lose weight in this manner gain it back within a
year. Lasting success in managing your weight involves a
long-term commitment to building healthy habits that last
a lifetime. Healthy eating and physical activity — and
staying motivated to continue these — are the
building blocks of a healthy lifestyle. The intersection of all three factors is where you
achieve a healthy weight.
Here, we’ll discuss the fundamentals of
weight management as well as some practical
tips and strategies to get you started on your
lifelong commitment to healthy living.
Do you need to lose weight?
The first step in managing your weight is
determining a healthy weight for your body
type. Simply put, a healthy weight means you
have the right amount of body fat in relation to your
overall body mass. Stepping on the scale only tells you
your total weight, not how much of your weight is fat.
In addition, the scale doesn’t tell you where you’re carrying that fat. In determining health risks, both of these
factors — the amount of fat and where it’s located — are more important than your weight alone.
Although there are ways to determine what percentage of your total weight is actually fat, the procedures
tend to be expensive, complicated and vary in accuracy. As an alternative, the National Institutes of Health has
adopted an approach to determining a healthy weight based on three factors:
■ Body mass index — Body mass index (BMI) is a tool that uses weight and height to estimate body fat. BMI
values help determine whether you’re at a healthy or unhealthy weight. In some cases, BMI values can be mis-
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Write it down
Keeping accurate records is an
important part of a weight management plan.
Food diaries have shown to
be a successful tool in helping
people reach and maintain their
weight goals. Studies suggest that
keeping a diary causes people to
reduce their food intake, probably by increasing awareness of
their eating behavior.
If you have to see it in writing, you may be less likely to
sneak in that extra cookie.
Special Report
leading. For example, muscle weighs more than fat, so some athletes
and physically fit people have high BMIs, even though they have very
little excess fat. For most people, though, BMI is a helpful tool in estimating weight-related health risks. If your BMI is less than 18.5, talk
with your doctor to determine if your low weight is a cause for concern.
■ Waist circumference — Determining where your body stores fat is
important, since many diseases associated with excess weight are influenced by the location of fat on your body. If you carry most of your fat
around your waist or upper abdomen, you’re considered apple-shaped.
If you carry most of your fat around your hips and thighs or lower body,
you’re referred to as pear-shaped. Apple shapes have greater health risks
because excess fat in your abdomen increases your risk of disease.
Measuring your waist will help you determine whether you’re carrying too much weight around your middle. Using a flexible measuring
tape, find the highest point on each hipbone and measure around your
body just above these points. In combination with your BMI, your waist
measurement can indicate your risk of weight-related diseases.
■ Medical history — An evaluation of your personal and family
medical histories is also important in determining your healthy weight.
Special Report
Health effects
of excess body fat
Two out of three Americans are
overweight or obese, and the
health implications are significant.
Being overweight can increase
your risk of developing diabetes,
heart disease, stroke, high blood
pressure, sleep apnea, gallstones
and many types of cancer.
Carrying around extra
weight also puts added strain
on your joints, back and legs.
This can exacerbate conditions
such as arthritis and increase
the likelihood you will need
joint replacement surgery.
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If you have a family history of obesity or weight-related diseases, you
may also be at increased risk. Other factors to consider are any health
conditions you have and if you smoke and lead a sedentary lifestyle.
Considered together, your BMI, waist measurement and medical
history can help you determine what weight is healthy for you. Talk
with your doctor to decide whether losing weight would reduce your
risk of certain conditions. For some people who are severely overweight
— a BMI over 40 — and have a health problem as a result, surgery may
be an option. However, surgery alone won’t solve a weight problem.
Success depends on your commitment to healthy eating and an active
lifestyle to ensure that the weight stays off.
Even if your weight is within a healthy range, you may still benefit from adopting a healthy lifestyle if you haven’t done so already.
Healthy eating can reduce your risk of certain diseases regardless of
your weight. A balanced, healthy lifestyle can improve your sense of
well-being. Eating nutritious foods and engaging in regular physical
activity is good advice for everyone, at any age, even if you don’t need
to lose weight.
Fundamentals of healthy eating
How would you like to enjoy an eating plan that includes delicious
meals, convenience in the kitchen, optimum nutrition and allows you
to eat your favorite foods? It sounds too good to be true — but it’s not.
A healthy diet and weight-loss plan can include all of these.
Although achieving a healthy weight may mean cutting back on
some of your favorite foods and changing your eating habits, it’s possible to lose weight and still feel satisfied. Remember, this is a lifelong
approach, so it needs to be enjoyable.
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Special Report
Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid
See the recommended number of servings at upper right. When a range is shown, the lower number of servings is based on 1,200 calories and the higher number is based on 2,000 calories. *Try to use the more healthy fats, such as unsaturated fats.
Tips for healthy eating
Try these tips to help you control what you eat: ■ Use a smaller plate to
make less food seem like more.
■ Keep a bowl of fruit in a
handy place so that it’s easy to
reach for a healthy snack.
■ Eat breakfast.
■ Replace calorie-laden
beverages with water.
■ Keep measuring cups and
spoons handy to measure out
servings until you have learned
to estimate them accurately.
■ Brush your teeth or chew
gum after meals to discourage
yourself from snacking.
■ Measure out servings
rather than eating directly from
the package.
■ Consider buying yourself
a kitchen scale. Some models
come preprogrammed with
serving size and calorie information for a variety of foods.
Healthy eating involves a diet emphasizing vegetables, fruits and
whole grains. These food groups are the foundation of the Mayo Clinic
Healthy Weight Pyramid. This approach is healthy and effective because it focuses on nutritious foods that have few calories for their volume. For example, you could eat 20 cups of salad greens to consume
the same number of calories in one candy bar or six slices of bacon.
So, by choosing to eat more-generous portions of foods found lower on
the pyramid, you can consume fewer calories and still feel full.
You need to reduce your calorie intake by about 3,500 calories —
that’s 500 calories each day — to lose 1 pound in one week. This can also
be accomplished by consuming fewer calories and burning more calories
through physical activity. One pound may not seem like a lot, but healthy
weight loss is slow and steady, at a rate of about 1 to 2 pounds a week.
Daily calorie goals under 1,200 for women and 1,400 for men generally aren’t recommended, as you may not get enough nutrients. However,
some quick start diet plans are healthy if they focus on healthy lifestyle
habits that lead to long-term slow and steady weight loss.
Because there are no banned foods in the Healthy Weight Pyramid,
you can still include your favorite foods and the occasional indulgence.
The idea is to consume smaller portions or eat them less frequently to
make sure they fit into your healthy eating plan and daily calorie goals. The number of servings of each food group you should consume is determined by your calorie goals. For the ranges on the pyramid, the lower
number in the range is for lower calorie goals and the higher number is for
higher calorie goals. In addition, the Healthy Weight Pyramid allows you
to eat unlimited amounts of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, so you’ll
always have something healthy to eat if you’re hungry.
It’s important to remember that a serving isn’t just how much food
you decide to eat, but a specific amount of food defined by standard
Special Report
Habits to make,
to break
If you’re overweight, you likely
got there by having certain habits. Often, people don’t realize
how much these behaviors, taken
together, help pack on pounds.
If you’re ready to lose
weight, start by curbing some
of these habits. To jump-start
your weight loss, try adopting some healthy changes
for at least two weeks. If you
can stick to it, you’re bound
to notice results. The pounds
will come off, your health will
improve, and you’ll feel better.
Changes you might try
include eating a healthy breakfast, eating more fruits and
vegetables on a daily basis and
getting more exercise.
Unhealthy habits you might
look to change include spending too much time in front of
the TV or computer, eating
unhealthy snacks and eating
too much meat.
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measurements. While a serving is a standard amount of food, a portion
is the amount you put on your plate. A portion may include two or three
servings, which is fine for fruits and vegetables, but may be excessive for
fat, carbohydrate or protein. Learning about serving sizes is an important
part of your healthy-weight plan. Using visual cues, you’ll be surprised
how quickly you’ll be able to remember and estimate serving sizes.
Armed with your daily calorie goals and a knowledge of serving
sizes, you’re prepared to turn your unhealthy eating habits into healthy
ones. Fortunately, there are a variety of strategies to help you make
these changes. Keeping a daily food record has helped many people
successfully lose unwanted weight. Designate an appropriate place in
the house for eating and avoid distractions. Make a meal schedule and
stick to it — whether it’s three meals and two snacks a day or six minimeals, it will give you a better sense of control.
Listen to your body. Eat when you’re hungry, and stop when you’re
full, even if your plate isn’t clear. Enlisting the help of friends, family or
support groups is also helpful for some people. And remember to enjoy
your food. Savoring and taking pleasure in eating will remind you of
how enjoyable and satisfying a healthy lifestyle can be.
Beyond the basics
Maintaining a weight program takes dedication. In order to make
healthy eating a lifelong endeavor, address the following:
■ Meal planning and shopping — Plan your meals around your daily serving goals. Try to include recommended servings from all the food
groups throughout the day. Plan and shop by the week so that you have all
the ingredients you’ll need. If you’re off target with your servings one day,
make it up the next. Adapt your menus to the seasons to take advantage of
fresh, tasty, in-season produce. Shop at farmers markets to find local produce, which tends to be the freshest. Shop from a list and don’t go shopping on an empty stomach. Read nutrition labels and have some healthy
convenience foods on hand for when you’re in a hurry. Emphasize variety
in your diet and don’t be afraid to try new foods.
■ Healthy cooking — Use healthy-cooking methods such as baking, grilling, broiling, steaming and sautéing. Add flavor with herbs,
spices and low-fat condiments instead of butter and salt. Use nonstick
cookware or vegetable cooking sprays instead of oil or butter. Learn
how to adapt recipes to make them more healthy. You can usually
replace half of the fat in baked goods with applesauce and reduce the
amount of sugar by one-half without affecting texture or taste. Choose
lean meat and fish, and try going meatless a few times a week.
■ Eating out — Eating out too often can lead to weight gain because
you typically don’t know how many calories you’re consuming. However,
eating out can be fun and healthy if you plan ahead. Eat at restaurants that
offer healthy options and moderate serving sizes. If you know you’ll be
consuming more calories when you eat out, increase your physical activity that day. Look for tasty nonmeat options. Save half of your meal for the
next day, and limit appetizers, bread, side dishes or high-calorie beverages. Ask for sauces and dressings on the side. Finish the main dish before
ordering dessert to see if you’re still hungry. Order an appetizer as your
main dish or split a meal with a companion.
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The flip side:
Being underweight
A body mass index lower
than 18.5 means that you’re
probably underweight. Being
underweight can have a variety
of causes and may or may not
carry health risks.
In the United States, eating disorders such as anorexia
nervosa and bulimia nervosa
are common causes of being
underweight. But unintentional
weight loss can be a sign of
an underlying medical condition. These conditions may be
physical, for example digestive
problems or cancer, or mental,
for example forgetting to eat or
having depression.
Being underweight also may
have to do with your social or
financial situation. Perhaps you
live alone and don’t know how
to cook or have lost interest in
cooking. If you have a limited
income, perhaps you can’t afford nutritious food and your
medications. In many of these
circumstances, being underweight is potentially unhealthy
and should be evaluated by a
health professional.
If your weight is naturally
low despite a balanced diet
and healthy lifestyle, your
health may not be at risk.
However, you still may benefit
from regular strength training,
especially as you age. Even
training with relatively light
weights can improve balance
and strength, which can help
you carry out daily tasks safely.
If you’re underweight, talk
with your doctor to determine
the underlying cause and identify possible solutions.
Special Report
Physical activity: A rewarding habit
Healthy eating is only one part of a weight management plan. Increasing your daily physical activity and getting a moderate amount of exercise
also are key to losing weight, and they also improve your health and wellbeing. The challenge is to make physical activity a lifelong pursuit — it
needs to be as natural and routine as brushing your teeth. In order to do
this, you need to create a varied, personalized fitness plan that will become a fun and healthy habit you’ll enjoy for a lifetime.
It’s easy to find reasons to avoid physical activity — lack of time or
motivation, concerns about being hurt, boredom with exercise. However, anyone can become physically active. It’s never too late to start,
regardless of age, weight, fitness level and health condition. If you’ve
been leading a sedentary life or have health concerns, talk with your
doctor to find a safe way to increase your amount of physical activity.
To achieve health benefits from your fitness plan, aim to accumulate at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderately intense physical activity
each day. Splitting it up into smaller chunks — for example, taking a
20-minute walk after breakfast and again after dinner — may make it
more manageable. If you look at how you currently spend your time,
you may find several chunks you could dedicate to physical activity.
Schedule fitness into your day as though it’s an important appointment.
Remember that losing weight results from a combination of diet
and exercise. If you eat 250 fewer calories a day and burn an extra 250
through physical activity, you’ll lose 1 pound a week. If you eat 500
fewer and burn 500 more, you’ll lose 2 pounds a week.
Exercise is more fun when you enjoy what you’re doing, and you’re
more likely to stick with it. Ask yourself what sort of activities you like
and dislike. Do you prefer to exercise alone, or in pairs or groups? Do
you enjoy going to a gym, or are you more likely to work out if you have
equipment at home? This is your plan, so do what suits you. There’s
no shortage of activities for you to choose from. Whatever you decide,
make sure to include a variety of activities to prevent monotony, and
don’t be afraid to try something new.
Just as your diet benefits from a variety of foods, your body benefits
from different types of physical activity. When developing your fitness
plan, try to include the three types of exercise:
■ Aerobic exercise — Aerobic means “with oxygen.” Aerobic exercise
increases your breathing and heart rates, helping you use oxygen more efficiently. This improved cardiovascular endurance can help you do chores
or climb stairs without becoming short of breath, and you can enjoy your
favorite activities longer before getting tired. The advantage of aerobic exercise for weight loss is that the intensity is low enough you can do it for
a long time, so you burn a lot of calories. Long-term benefits of regular
aerobic exercise can include a reduced heart rate, lower blood pressure,
reduced body fat and blood-fat levels, and a lower risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other conditions.
Aerobic exercise is one of the simplest and safest forms of exercise,
especially if you’re just starting out. If you’ve been inactive, increase
your activity levels gradually. You’ll eventually want to engage in aerobic activity most days of the week for at least 30 minutes — or up to 90
minutes if you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a weight loss.
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Tips to help you boost
your activity level
Use these tips to help boost
your activity level:
■ Wake up early. Get up
30 minutes earlier than you
normally do and use the time
to exercise.
■ Be active while watching
TV. Stretch, walk on the treadmill or ride a stationary bike
during your favorite shows.
For variety, try increasing your
intensity slightly during the
commercial breaks.
■ Do household chores at a
pace that raises your heart rate.
■ Walk or bike to work and
when you run errands.
■ Take a daily walk with
your dog or volunteer to walk
dogs at a local animal shelter.
■ Take the stairs instead of
the elevator.
■ When driving, park a
little farther from your destination and walk the rest of the
way.
■ Start a lunchtime walking
group with friends.
■ When traveling, stay at
a hotel with fitness facilities,
or get up early and walk the
neighborhood around your
hotel.
Something is better than
nothing. Even if you can’t fit
in your scheduled workout, do
whatever you have time for instead of skipping it completely.
Every little bit counts.
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Keep in mind that whether an activity is considered aerobic depends on its intensity level. For example, walking can be aerobic or
not, depending on how hard you’re working. A simple way to gauge
your intensity level is the talk test: While exercising at a moderately
intense level, you should be breathing harder, developing a light sweat
and feeling some strain on your muscles, but you should still be able to
speak in brief sentences. Brisk walking is a great, low-impact aerobic
exercise. A variety of activities can be done at an aerobic intensity.
■ Strength training — Strength training can help with weight control
by improving your overall fitness, allowing you to be more active in general. Training with weights or resistance bands builds stronger muscles,
which stabilize and protect your joints and make daily activities easier.
Strength training reduces body fat and increases lean muscle mass. This
improves your body’s capacity to burn calories — even when you’re at
rest — because muscle burns more calories than does fat.
Strength training is especially important as you get older. It’s one of
the best activities you can do to counteract the decline in muscle mass
that naturally occurs with age. This will help you to carry out daily
activities such as moving and lifting more safely. In addition, strength
training helps you maintain balance and coordination. This can reduce
your risk of falls, which are a major reason individuals need to enter
assisted living facilities. Strength training also decreases your risk of
osteoporosis and injury and boosts your confidence and self-image.
It’s never too late to start strength training. You can benefit from
strength training with just two or three sessions a week. Talk with your
doctor to develop an appropriate strength training program for your
needs. And, consider finding a certified professional or a class at your
local community center to learn proper strength training techniques.
■ Stretching — Regular stretching can improve your flexibility and
reduce stiffness, making daily tasks easier. Other benefits of stretching
include improved circulation, better posture, stress relief and relaxation. Like strength training, stretching also enhances your coordination and balance and reduces your risk of injury.
These benefits can be accomplished through five to 10 minutes
of gentle stretching after aerobic activities, concentrating on problem
areas. When stretching beforehand, first warm up your muscles with
a few minutes of walking. Make sure to learn appropriate stretches so
that you don’t strain your muscles.
A typical weekly schedule combining these three exercise elements
might look like this:
■ 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic activity most days of the week
■ 20 to 30 minutes of strength training two or three days a week
■ A few minutes of stretching before and after aerobic activities
Create an exercise routine that works with your schedule. Remember, you can break up your daily exercise into separate segments to
make it more manageable. Once you’re in the habit of exercising, you
may look forward to the break from other obligations. And, like many
people, you may realize how pleasant and rewarding it can be.
Maintaining an exercise program is one of the best predictors of
long-term weight control. Combined with an active lifestyle, you can’t
go wrong sticking to an exercise program.
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Are you ready?
Before you start a weight-loss
program, it’s important to examine your motivations. You’re more likely to succeed if losing weight is something you want for yourself and
not simply what others expect
of you. Don’t set yourself up for
failure by trying to change your
lifestyle if you’re distracted by
major problems. Think of ways
to resolve your concerns, then
as soon as you can, reassess
your readiness to lose weight.
Helpful resources
Check out these resources for
more on weight management:
■ The Mayo Clinic Diet —
This new book is a guide to
weight loss composed of three
sections to get you started,
keep you on track and give you
the knowledge and tools to
keep those unwanted pounds
off for good. It’s available in
retail bookstores or from the
online bookstore at www.
Bookstore.MayoClinic.com or
by calling toll-free 877-6476397.
■ Mayo Clinic Wellness Solutions for Weight Loss DVD —
This DVD offers help with losing weight and keeping it off by
combining conventional and
alternative methods. It’s available at the online bookstore at
www.Bookstore.MayoClinic.
com or by calling toll-free
877-647-6397.
Special Report
Staying motivated: Finding what works for you
If you want to succeed, you have to be motivated. Motivation underlies your knowledge of healthy eating and proper exercise and is the
third building block of healthy living.
Motivation is very personal. Why do you want to lose weight? What
is it that will drive you to stay on course in your healthy eating and
exercise so that you can reach your goals? Answers to these questions,
which form the basis of your motivation, can only come from you.
As you prepare to achieve a healthy weight, consider those questions.
Write down your answers, and from them find things that will give you a
strong desire to succeed — things you can use for motivation if the going
gets tough. Then combine those motivators with your healthy-eating and
exercise ideas to form your overall weight management plan.
To develop your plan, set goals for both your diet and physical
activity that are realistic, specific and measurable. Track your progress and adjust your goals as necessary. Use your own problem-solving
skills to come up with how to handle specific situations such as parties,
eating out and traveling, then write those plans down.
Realize that it’s normal to experience setbacks and slip into old, unhealthy habits. But while you can expect setbacks, don’t let these bumps in
the road permanently derail your weight-loss plan. Again, use your problem-solving skills to develop a plan for how to recover and get back on
track. And keep those things that motivate you in front of you.
Avoid situations that you know trigger slip-ups until you’re more
in control of your new behaviors. Ask for support from others so that
they can keep you on track when you have difficult days. In addition,
be forgiving of yourself. Remember that mistakes happen and that each
day is a chance to start fresh.
When planning for success and overcoming setbacks, remember
that this is your plan — so do it your way. When starting your program,
look at what has worked for you in the past when making large life
changes. Are you an all-or-nothing sort of person? If so, implementing a
lot of new behaviors at once might work. Or, have you been more successful making changes gradually? In that case, pick one or two specific
behaviors to implement each week, such as eating your recommended
servings of vegetables or taking a walk every day.
Make a list of obstacles that interfere with your healthy habits. Do
you overeat when stressed or bored, or skip your workout because
you’re too tired at the end of the day? Come up with a list of possible
solutions to these challenges. Try one out. If it works, you have a strategy to rely on the next time you face that obstacle. If it doesn’t, keep
trying solutions until you find one that’s successful. There are no right
or wrong strategies — only those that work for you.
Don’t be discouraged if you have a long way to go to reach your
weight goals — remember that even small improvements can be beneficial. This is a long-term approach to healthy living, not a quick fix.
It takes commitment, time and regular reinforcement for your new behaviors to become routine habits. But once they do, the benefits to your
health and well-being will last a lifetime. ❒
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